Bicycle-Commuting in
Riding the bike to my workplace
In
February 2005 I relocated from
Well,
except for those days when I wouldn’t drive to work, but ride my bicycle! I
started this mini-adventure back in March and April, when the weather is superb
and you get plenty of sunshine with moderate temperatures and low humidity. One
such 70 mile round-trip exercise per week is usually enough for me; it helps me
get some additional miles in mid-week to stay in better shape for the hard
week-end rides along the coastal road A1A with the locals.
As
of mid-May the weather changes in South-Florida and you get a hot and humid
airmass with almost daily thunderstorms, temperatures between 75 - 95 F and air
so sticky you can hardly breathe. Outside of the early morning hours it’s too
hot to do anything outside, except perhaps hang out at the beach. For the last
3 months, our weather report (courtesy http://weather.yahoo.com)
practically always looked the same, something like this:
After
not riding in June or July I decided to give it a go again in August, given
that we have some showers at work so I can change from the sweaty bike shirt
into normal, casual work cloths. In case there are thunderstorms, I could still
always take the Tri-Rail train to cover a good portion of the distance going
back…
Wednesday, August
17, 2005:
The
alarm clock goes off at 5:40am. When you want to ride for 2 hours prior to work
you just have to get up early! I eat some yoghurt, drink some juice, stow my
work necessities in my trusted old back-pack and dress inn my bike outfit. At
6:00am I am ready to roll.
The
route I am following down to the Citrix office in
Well,
once started I try to get into a good rhythm along the bike-path of this 6 lane
divided highway, with moderate amounts of traffic this early in the morning. I
have a total of 4 red blinkers on my bicycle to make sure I am not overlooked
by sleepy car drivers which are paying more attention to their morning coffees
inside the car than in the (unexpected) slow vehicle in the bike-lane outside
of the car…
For
the first 45 minutes or so I am usually alone with my thoughts barreling down
South on 441 with few interruptions or stops. There are only 4 traffic lights
in the first 15 miles or so, one stretch of 8 miles has no traffic lights at
all. Usually there is also very little wind in the pre-dawn morning.
Needless
to say that I work up a sweat right away, almost from the moment you step
outside the garage into the tropical hot and humid air. Even the water bottles
are dripping “sweat”, as their refridgerated content cools the moist air and
condensates the water out of the air, which causes some occasional dripping on
the lower legs.
When
there is a red light, I slow down and roll up to the line with the cars and
trucks waiting in front of me.
The
road is still wet in some places from nightly showers. As a matter of fact, I
will later come across a mile or two where the tall cloud (faintly visible in
the above picture) just rained out in the morning a little while ago and the
road is wet. My front wheel splashes the water against the bike frame and from
there it sprays on my shoes which are quickly soaking wet – the rest of the
ride with wet shoes and socks!
While
I am pushing ahead alone with my thoughts in between groups of cars the morning
dawns and the sky turns light blue and pink to the East. I continue down the
bike-path, as I said: No route finding skills required here!
After
a while I find a mailbox to the right of the road which I can use as a tripod
for a self-timed picture.
It
is almost 7:00am. The cloud-tops are already bathed in orange sunlight, so I
will soon have full daylight and be able to turn off the blinkers. My trip is
roughly divided in two pieces. The first half from
Increased
concentration and very passive and anticipatory riding is required to minimize
the obvious risks of getting constantly bypassed and occasionally cut off.
In
between this rushing river of vehicles, there are some serene moments of
beauty, for example when watching one’s shadow stretching out to the right
across the grass, or along the concrete of the Sawgrass Expressway overpass.
In
fact, on the rides in March and April I would see sunrise and sunset
practically every time with my shadow cast out some 50-100 ft to my ride –
going South in the morning and North in the evening. If I were to put on
sunscreen I would only use it on the left side of my body!
Due
to the many stop lights it often happens that I see the same cars 2-3 times:
They pass me and arrive at a red light which forces them to stop. While they
wait I arrive there and roll past them all the way up to the line. Sometimes
this pattern repeats itself a few times with the same cars, which invariably
leads some drivers to get frustrated about their not progressing any faster
than a bike rider… Many of them stare at me while I stop at the line and have a
drink from my bottle or take a quick snap-shot:
At
7:30am I reach the overpass of 441 over Sample road, the
I
also play with the self-timer to take a picture of myself riding; this requires
a sequence of finding the right spot to put the camera down, setting the
controls, pushing the button and then getting in position by riding back some
30 ft, turning around and approaching again, all within about 5 seconds! After
three attempts I get a good one:
The
road gets busier and busier, until it seemingly can get no worse at the
intersection of 441 with
I
certainly don’t want to be a bike messenger in one of the big cities like
Not
long after I turn East on Commercial I reach the Spectrum complex which hosts
the Citrix offices for our Engineering department. A colleague who just parks
the car strikes up a surprised conversation and then takes this picture:
I
“park” my bicycle in my office, take a shower, change and then start a long day
at the office. At least sitting through the many meetings is a bit easier to do
when you already have 35 miles in your leg muscles J!
Luckily
there are no thunderstorms near the coast today, only some far to the West of
us over the central South-Florida region. At 6:00pm I reverse the dress code
back to the bike shirt and pants and start again towards home at 6:15pm. The
heat is on and the sun is super-bright now.
At
least the sun is already getting lower so the chance for sunburn is reduced. I
am lucky also with the wind, which is blowing at 10 mph from the South-East,
i.e. diagonally from the back. This helps me on the way back home, even though
it’s of course not nearly as strong a push as the 30+ mph wind on my Iowa-to-Canada
downwind orgy.
Soon
I get to the overpass again. Looking East I can see the traffic on Sample road
as well as the regional garbage dump, highest point in our flat landscape
within probably 100+ miles, thus know to the locals under the nickname of
“Mount Trashmore”. (Click here for a 2002
trip report and photos of the real “Mount Rushmore” in
As
the sun sinks lower and the shadows grow longer, there is one distraction high
up in the air: An airplane paints letters into the sky high above the ground,
which reveals a widely visible form of advertisment. You often read strings
like “U + God = J” or “Jesus © U” with the
heart-symbol of love as in this case.
Once
I reach Yamato road I get into the second half of this leg or the last quarter
of my daily distance. Unlike further South, where you have so many stop lights
that it’s hard to find and keep any rhythm, up here you can hunker down on the
tribars and just pound away. I somehow enjoy those stretches the most, when you
don’t have to pay much attention at all to the road and your mind can wander.
(Stopping
for the self-timer photograhy routine is a bit unusual and takes some time, but
then without it there wouldn’t be those pictures!)
As
the clock approaches 8:00pm I notice the nearly full moon rising in the East
while the setting sun casts long shadows of the tall Cumulonimbus far to the
West into the Eastern sky. This almost looks as if my helmet protects me from
bumping into the moon ;-)
Not
long after this I get back up to
As
I jump into the swimming pool in our back-yard with my son Philip and as we
gaze up to the moon and the stars I certainly don’t think of the work-day
anymore. Riding like this has a refreshing effect on my brain. The work at the
office now has time until tomorrow, when sitting all day will feel like a
well-deserved rest after all…